The present invention relates generally to a method and system for forwarding calls, and more particularly to a method and system for forwarding calls in an advanced intelligent network.
When a telephone subscriber moves to a new location, it is sometimes not possible for the subscriber to retain the same telephone number. Currently, calls to the subscriber""s old telephone number after disconnection are met with an intercept announcement stating that the number has been disconnected, possibly followed by an announcement stating the subscriber""s new number.
If the subscriber desires to have calls to the old number forwarded to the new number for a period of time, the subscriber must maintain the old number as active, where the telephone service provider""s Service Switching Point (SSP) assigns a physical switch and wire lines to the subscriber""s old telephone number. This increases the cost to the service provider, which is passed along to subscriber.
The present invention provides a method and system for providing a call forwarding service to a subscriber without wire lines or a physical switch in the SSP. Utilizing the call forwarding of the present invention, calls may be forwarded directly to a voice mail box, which can be the same one the subscriber had prior to the move. This allows the subscriber to record a detailed voice mail greeting informing callers of the move. This also allows the subscriber to use that same voice mail box to receive messages for any length of time.
Additionally, use of the call forwarding service of the present invention also provides call forwarding to another telephone, such as the subscriber""s new telephone number. This could also be used for multi-line businesses that wish to disconnect one or more numbers but not lose the calls to those numbers while waiting for directory publications and advertising to reflect the change. Calls to the disconnected numbers would be forwarded to the remaining numbers in the interim.
The call forwarding service of the present invention is preferably implemented in an Advanced Intelligent Network. Generally, an SSP includes a terminating trigger associated with a specific digit string (i.e. the subscriber""s xe2x80x9coldxe2x80x9d telephone number) and activated by a call to the specific digit string at the SSP. Calls to the subscriber""s old specific digit string at the SSP cause the SSP to send a query to a Service Control Point (SCP) requesting instructions regarding handling of the call. The SCP returns forwarding instructions to the SSP. As a significant benefit of the present invention, the specific digit string need not be assigned to any physical switch or line at the SSP.
The forwarding instructions from the SCP include a forward-to telephone number. The SSP receives the forwarding instructions and in response forwards the call to the forward-to telephone number. If that number is a voice mail box, the voice mail box plays the subscriber""s recorded greeting and allows the caller to leave a message. Alternatively, if the forward-to telephone number is another subscriber line, the SSP forwards the call to that subscriber line.